Every weekday in 2014, I'll be keeping an eye on what's happening in the media. My focus will be on some of my favorite subjects...the moguls, the pundits, the broadcast news biz, show business, and the publishing business. (Read "$everance" if you want a crystallization of my positions on those subjects.) And, of course, I'll also keep tabs on Chicago's media.
Chicago Media
~Tribune pushes it's debt onto Tribune Publishing
When a big corporation spins off a division, like the Tribune is about to do with Tribune Publishing, it's usually to make the rest of the company stronger. That seems to be the case here. $325 million in debt is spinning off into Tribune Publishing. I'm guessing there won't be a mad rush to buy Tribune Publishing stock.
The Moguls
~CBS Pays Two Guys $114 Million
From Tom Taylor's NOW column:
At CBS, Sumner Redstone doesn’t mind paying top execs (or himself). Like $66.9 million for President/CEO Les Moonves and $57.2 million for Redstone. The salaries for controlling stockholder Redstone and Les Moonves didn’t change much between 2011 and 2013. But some other things did. Two years ago, Moonves was being richly laden with stock option awards, worth a potential $27.3 million. Last year, that number shrank to $5.8 million – while his outright “stock awards” soared from $8.5 million to $26.5 million. Add in his base salary of $3.5 million, a huge bonus of $28.5 million, and a few other minor categories, and last year Moonves’ total compensation package totaled $66.9 million. He’s typically one of the highest-paid CEOs in the media sector and often among the highest-paid CEOs from any sector. (Media-company CEOs tend to make more than those in other industries.)
~More Obscene Pay Packages
The New York Times profile of Oracle's Larry Ellison is a pretty good hit job. Seems like jag.
The Pundits
~Michael Isikoff Leaves NBC News
From the New York Times article linked above...
NBC News and Mr. Isikoff said the decision to part ways was mutual. “It’s a totally amicable departure,” he said. “I had a good ride at NBC, and I’m proud of a lot of what I was able to do there. But it was increasingly clear they were moving in directions in which there were going to be fewer opportunities for my work.”
Social Media
~Many Twitter Accounts Never or Rarely Tweet
From the Wall Street Journal: "A report from Twopcharts, a website that monitors Twitter account activity, states that about 44% of the 974 million existing Twitter accounts have never sent a tweet." But they count when it comes to number of followers. Keep that in mind when you see someone with millions of followers.
